Interview with Baroness Delyth Morgan, CEO, Breast Cancer Now, and Barbara Brown, Trustee, Breast Cancer Now
Breast Cancer Now has kept their people connected and committed through tough times with the support of their donors and volunteers.
For the next in the series of Cairney Conversations we look to the charitable sector and a major health charity that less than a year ago had gone through a merger of two organisations, Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now. Within 24hours of lockdown they pivoted their services online and began to look at creative and innovative solutions to ensuring that their fundraising income did not fall off a cliff edge. Breast Cancer Now has little reliance on government but welcomed and benefitted from the government furlough scheme. Although they are predicting a 35% loss in income for the coming year their CEO Baroness Delyth Morgan and Trustee Barbara Brown have a realistic and optimistic view of the future and an unwavering focus on ensuring that those dealing with the devastation of a breast cancer diagnosis are supported.
Given the current environment with COVID-19, what are some of the tough decisions you have had to make quickly as CEO and the Board to minimise the long-term impact and ensure viability and sustainability?
The toughest decision was stopping our face-to-face services and halt our grant rounds. Not only because of social distancing measures but critically to take some of the pressure off frontline NHS staff being diverted to COVID care. We’ve also stopped our research grant rounds for 2021 due to the drop in fundraising. Through the Richmond Group (a strong charity network of other Fundraising Directors and Chief Executives), we were able to benchmark ourselves against others in a similar situation and feel confident this was the right decision.
We’ve had to furlough around 65% of the team. We have incredible fundraisers who wanted to get out there and literally shake the tin. But with most of our event fundraising paused we couldn’t survive without furloughing our staff. We’re hoping to ramp up fundraising again in the autumn.
Barbara from a Trustee’s perspective how have the Trustees been involved in supporting these decisions?
I’ve been so impressed by the synergy and seamless working of the Trustees along with Delyth and her senior leadership team. It has been a superb example of true leadership in action. Prompt decision making, clear, regular communication and transparency from the beginning has minimised the uncertainty for a lot of staff, even though it’s been undeniably tough.
Delyth, last month the Institute of Fundraising reported that between 30th April to the 25th May 2020 charities expected a reduction of 24% to their total income for the year, which could amount to a £12.4bn loss of income for the sector. What impact have you witnessed at Breast Cancer Now?
We’re experiencing exactly that; a 23%-24% drop in income and predicting a 35% drop in income for the coming year. Although we have a diverse fundraising portfolio, there are lots of events which we just can’t run at the moment. Of course, our partners including Asda, Marks & Spencer and Garfield Weston Foundation understand the situation. They’ve been incredibly supportive and very responsive.
We have also received some personal messages from donors telling us to “keep on in there” and we are!
Delyth, with a 35% predicted loss of income what impact will that have on your services and resources?
Very sadly, we’re looking to lose about 20% of our people. That’s around 45 members of staff. Our people have been amazing and incredibly responsive. They redesigned our Helpline service, bringing it online within 24 hours, making sure there was as much continuity of support for every person who needs us. The team has been so innovative, and the social media engagement is full of incredibly positive responses.
Delyth, Breast Cancer Now had a robust events programme and a reliance on the income from these events. How has the organisation pivoted over the last four months to mitigate this loss in income and what adaptations will you make to your fundraising strategy going forward as a result of COVID?
I’m so lucky to have such a positive and enthusiastic fundraising team who naturally meet problems head on. When the London Marathon was cancelled, we became part of the virtual 2.6 Challenge to coincide with the event and raised a phenomenal £100,000. It was a great event to galvanise community support, from trustees running in their garden to very strong supporter engagement throughout. We then launched the 300,000 step challenge in June through our Facebook page, and in just a few days we raised nearly £300,000.
Of course, these events don’t replace the money we might have raised from the Marathon - around £1m - but it showed the true character of the fundraising team. We stayed connected to our donors and supporters and still attracted new support.
Our Wear It Pink event in October will be the next challenge as it traditionally involves dress down office days and team fundraising initiatives but I know the creative cogs are already turning!
Delyth, a recent Charities Aid Foundation Survey Report stated that the demand for services has gone up by more than 50%. What impact have you seen on the demand for your services and how have you responded?
Our “Ask our Nurse” service - where you can email or leave a voice enquiry - has been very busy. Initially we saw a big increase in demand for COVID-related questions as you can imagine, and we’re now supporting more people who can’t access treatment or there have been changes to their treatments. Chemotherapy services have been paused and surgeries delayed, which will be incredibly worrying. Part of the Breast Cancer Now offer is reassurance to the people we talk to, and that’s needed more than ever.
Breast Cancer Now is as a result of a merger between the former BCN and Breast Cancer Care, resulting in a dual focus of providing services to those with breast cancer and their families and supporting research. Do you plan to maintain this dual focus and how will this be impacted going forward?
The reality is the number of people diagnosed with breast cancer is going up every year. There are more people living with breast cancer post-treatment. And so it becomes more important for us to be there and to keep getting stronger. The merger gave us the full package; providing support for today and hope for tomorrow. Strengthening our fundraising portfolio becomes even more important, and creating an agile and digitally focused organisation is clearly a priority. One of the core sentiments around the merger was to create that virtuous circle between the services, the patient engagement, the research agenda and getting that cross-fertilisation working between the different parts of our charitable work. This remains the most valuable piece that we are pushing forward.
The new Breast Cancer Now was launched less than a year ago with plans to create greater unity between the supporters of both organisations. How has COVID either impeded or enhanced these plans?
Delyth: Definitely enhanced. For example, the committee of the Show, a Breast Cancer Care event, sent a good luck message to the committee of Breast Cancer Now’s Pink Ribbon Ball last year. And now both events are paused, the two committees are working together to create something just as inspiring and successful. Lots of people on the committees are living with or are affected by breast cancer, and that’s what drives them. They are fully focussed on the people we support. It’s very humbling and inspiring.
Barbara: I couldn’t put it better than Delyth. There is such a selfless approach and holding ourselves to account for the people we support is the acid test.
The Government pledged a £750m support package for charities. However, the recent CAF report also indicated that schemes set up by the Government were not applicable to the vast majority of charities. Were you able to access any emergency funds? What are the key things Breast Cancer Now needs to see from the Government to help support you through the current crisis and into a recovery period?
We haven’t been able to access anything from that fund, as most of the money was already allocated to organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau and Hospices. We’re currently applying to the National Lottery Fund, and other Foundations, so fingers crossed! But whatever the outcome, it can’t replace the millions we have lost through this crisis.
The furlough scheme has been really helpful for us to continue to build the strongest organisation we possibly can. We’ve never really benefited from government funding and if it wasn’t for the incredible generosity of all our different supporters, from individuals to trusts and corporates, we wouldn’t exist. Our focus is on providing the best experience for current supporters and engaging with new ones. We’ll always provide the best services possible and be there to support critical research. If we can be the best we can be, people will join us.
How have you kept engaged with supporters during the lockdown? Has the lockdown period presented any positive opportunities?
We’ve put a lot of energy into helping people tell their stories. Sharing good news and the impact of our services and research through our website, emails and social media. We’re also testing “distressed” advertising - ad spots that haven't sold across different media like billboards and radio, and that we can get for incredibly cheap rates. There is a lot more opportunity now for literally free advertising, so we’re making sure we’re better positioned to jump on those opportunities.
In your conversations with donors during this time what are you hearing that may impact on the role philanthropy will play at Breast Cancer Now but also the overall impact on giving?
Delyth: We’ve had some very positive webinars with our major donors, and we’ve got more planned. With everything else going on these were really fun to do. We touched on a number of subjects, from the impact of the pandemic on breast cancer services, to research, to the policy issues that were coming up. Our donors have been incredibly engaged because they truly care about the people using our services.
Barbara: From a trustee’s perspective, we’re trying to maximise every opportunity for sharing updates on what’s happening. It’s a new way of working for everyone but regular, useful and honest communication always helps build reassurance and trust.
Barbara, the work undertaken by Breast Cancer Now would not be possible without the support of volunteers and trustees such as yourself. How have volunteers helped to strengthen and support your philanthropic proposition, whilst ensuring they receive the right support during COVID?
Many of our volunteers have lots of love for Breast Cancer Now because of how we’ve directly helped them or their loved ones. Even so, I think it's our duty to ask for more support in more areas when it’s vital to our survival. It’s true, we always need to be sharing the good stories that Delyth mentioned but also being honest about the costs of running our services and that we rely on support. We shouldn’t be afraid to have those conversations.
The word ‘resilience’ has been used a lot during COVID and we’ve been humbled at the stories we’ve heard. What are your proudest moments at Breast Cancer Now and how people have responded during this unprecedented time?
Delyth: I think my proudest moment was when it became clear that we were going to have to operate entirely remotely with very little notice. Everyone went home and the next day the charity was up and running. The Helpline was speaking to people and the IT systems were in place and keeping us connected. It was a really big moment for us and we pulled it off.
Barbara: The speed of effective response exemplified a real forward thinking and adult approach that said we’ve got to get this done in the most effective way. There was no prior experience or guidebook to fall back on. But we’ve delivered a high level of care for our people in all conversations and communications. Delyth and the leadership team have led from the front, and their passion, dedication and honesty has shone through. I think that’s what I am most proud of.